"Bristol! We have a problem!"

Mark Palmer
The Politics Show Wales

"Has anyone got good handwriting?" is not normally something you hear when we are preparing to go on air for the Politics Show in Wales. But at 12:11BST last Sunday, I distinctly remember hearing that cry.

We couldn't even get to standby!

Why did someone ask that?

Well, we had no scripts because all of our computers had gone down, all of our telephones had gone down, all of our outside TV lines had gone down - and the Politics Show Wales was just about to go down too. Why?

Blackout

Well there had been a major power failure at Broadcasting House, the BBC's HQ in Cardiff, and the knock-on effect was that all of our services - radio, TV and online - had ground to a halt.

Silence on the airwaves, blank screens on TVs and frozen webpages.

I recall walking into the BBC Wales newsroom at the National Assembly in Cardiff Bay just after 11:30.

As usual, my Sunday morning routine had involved first going into Broadcasting House four miles away from the Bay in Llandaff.

It's normally a nice quiet start to a Sunday - checking VT packages, finalising scripts, going through the papers, speaking on the telephone or ENPS to our presenter Felcitiy Evans and drinking lots of black coffee.

Then, just after 11:00, I drive down to the National Assembly in Cardiff Bay, listening to Patrick Hannan's "Something Else" programme on Radio Wales.

The sun was out as I parked outside the Assembly, and I was feeling quite good with myself: I'd found a parking space.

We're not too sure where the power stopped

I had remembered the titles VT tape (I knew that that would be the first thing that our director Heather Meurig Jones would ask me about: "Mark, have you got the titles?").

The world was good.

But...

Then I walked into the BBC Newsroom at the Assembly. Heather, our director, didn't ask about the tape - all she said was "We might not be going on air!"

Unbeknown to me - while walking from my car to the newsroom, there had been a blackout at BBC Wales.

Everything had gone. Aaah!

As ever, Heather took control. We were going to do the programme come what may - even if no one could watch it. Anyway, we had lost our lines to the Conservative Party conference but we had a package and three guests, and as true pros we soldiered on.

For some reason, which we still don't understand, viewers in Wales were getting either BBC Scotland version of the Politics Show or the Network version with the opt from Bristol.

All should be back to normal this week...

So we put in a call to our colleagues at Bristol - "Bristol, we have a problem!" - and asked them to welcome viewers from Wales at the start of their opt (which they kindly did and in writing this I realise that I haven't thanked them for it - so a belated thanks).

We produced the show - sadly it hasn't made the iPlayer - but here's a link to the BBC Wales politics website where the programme can be viewed.

And who has got good handwriting? That honour goes to our presenter Felicity Evans who dutifully wrote out all the scripts and running orders for us.

The Politics Show for Wales, with Jon Sopel and Adrian Masters this Sunday at 13:30 BST on BBC One.

If you want to have your say, you can call 0845 300 90 10, or e-mail via the website.

... Or write to: The Politics Show, Room 1060, BBC Wales, Llandaff, Cardiff. CF5 2YO

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